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The Histories

§21.1.1-21.1.4

Return of the Spartan Embassy and Senate's Reply

Describes the return of the Spartan embassy from Rome with their expectations unfulfilled, along with the Roman Senate's response regarding the hostages, the villages, and the ancient exiles.

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§21.1.1

ὅτι κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν τοῦτον συνέβη1 καὶ τὴν ἐκ τῆς Ῥώμης πρεσβείαν, ἣν ἀπέστειλαν οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι, παραγενέσθαι διεψευσμένην τῶν ἐλπίδων.2

​That about this time it happened that the embassy from Rome, which the Lacedaemonians had sent, returned disappointed in their hopes.

§21.1.2

ἐπρέσβευον μὲν γὰρ περὶ τῶν ὁμήρων καὶ τῶν κωμῶν·

​For they had sent the embassy concerning the hostages and the villages;

§21.1.3

ἡ δὲ σύγκλητος περὶ μὲν τῶν κωμῶν ἔφησεν ἐντολὰς δώσειν τοῖς παρʼ αὐτῶν ἀποστελλομένοις3 πρέσβεσιν, περὶ δὲ τῶν ὁμήρων ἔτι βουλεύσασθαι θέλειν.

​but the senate said that, concerning the villages, it would give instructions to the envoys sent by themselves, and concerning the hostages, it wished to deliberate further.

§21.1.4

περὶ δὲ τῶν φυγάδων τῶν ἀρχαίων θαυμάζειν ἔφησαν,4 πῶς οὐ κατάγουσιν αὐτοὺς εἰς τὴν οἰκείαν, ἠλευθερωμένης τῆς Σπάρτης. —

​And concerning the ancient exiles, they said they wondered how they did not restore them to their home, now that Sparta was liberated. —

Syntax notes4 items
  1. 21.1.1συνέβη

    The impersonal verb συνέβη (it happened) takes an accusative and infinitive construction, with τὴν ... πρεσβείαν as the subject and παραγενέσθαι as the infinitive.

  2. 21.1.1διεψευσμένην τῶν ἐλπίδων

    The perfect passive participle διεψευσμένην agrees with the subject πρεσβείαν, and the genitive τῶν ἐλπίδων is a genitive of separation. It literally means 'deceived or disappointed of their hopes,' indicating that their expectations were frustrated.

  3. 21.1.3τοῖς παρʼ αὐτῶν ἀποστελλομένοις

    The pronoun αὐτῶν refers back to the senate (ἡ σύγκλητος), meaning 'the envoys dispatched by themselves (the Romans)'.

  4. 21.1.4ἔφησαν

    The verb is plural ἔφησαν (they said), although its grammatical subject is the singular collective noun ἡ σύγκλητος (the senate) from the previous sentence. This is a constructio ad sensum, referring to the individual senators.

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-10-09)
  • 2026-10-09 Collated with the printed edition — source 1
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:21.1.1-21.1.4